Football Index has licence suspended by Gambling Commission after appointing administrators March 12, 2021 Football Index has had its licence suspended by the Gambling Commission after appointing administrators. The platform, which allows users to trade “shares” in high-profile footballers, suffered a market crash last weekend after reducing dividend payouts – one of the ways users can make money. Football Index suspended trading on Thursday, when it announced it was [...]
Castore founder Tom Beahon on swapping life in the City and as a footballer to start fast-growing British premium sportswear brand March 12, 2021 Steven Gerrard wasn’t the only Liverpudlian celebrating when his Rangers team returned to the summit of Scottish football last weekend. Watching at home on Merseyside were Tom Beahon, 31, and brother Phil, 28, the founders of British sportswear brand Castore. Last year, Castore signed Rangers as their first football client. On Sunday, they toasted the [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Olympic chiefs offer vaccines to athletes; Israel wins French Super Cup; and Winklevoss twins return to Boat Race March 11, 2021 Olympic chiefs have eased concerns around this summer’s Games by offering Covid-19 vaccines to any athlete set to compete at Tokyo 2020. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said the offer applied to athletes and teams involved in either Tokyo or the Winter Games in Beijing in February 2022. The IOC will buy the vaccines from [...]
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish says Champions League expansion plans will have ‘devastating effect’ on English football March 10, 2021 Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has called plans to expand the Champions League and change the qualifying criteria “very concerning”. Europe’s top football clubs and governing body Uefa have proposed an overhaul that would create 100 more fixtures and allocate extra places on the basis of historical success from 2024. “With the assault on the [...]
Goals galore: Why the return of the Champions League and Europa League is good news for fans (and bad news for goalkeepers) March 9, 2021 The Champions League and Europa League resume this week and – *checks calculator* – that is good news for the armchair football fan. After a lively, goal-strewn start, excitement in the Premier League has plateaued as the season has rumbled on, leading to fears that fatigue had taken hold owing to a short pre-season and [...]
Trevor Steven: Steven Gerrard has instilled his winning mentality to reinvigorate Rangers and Scottish football March 8, 2021 I saw it at close quarters when I played opposite Steven Gerrard in a Rangers v Liverpool legends match. The death stare, as Peter Crouch calls it. The fire in his eyes. It was a friendly match, but Gerrard was still clattering into Alex Rae. He is so driven, so hungry. And instilling some of [...]
Why Bruno Fernandes, Gabriel Jesus and Jadon Sancho might be forced to sit out the next international break March 5, 2021 Football’s international break is on the horizon, but for some players these 2022 World Cup qualifying matches might as well not be happening at all. The UK’s requirement that those travelling to certain countries quarantine for 10 days on their return has made some Premier League clubs reluctant to release players. But the situation could [...]
The football club of the future? How Lewes FC’s principles have started to pay off – and their aim of becoming the world’s most owned team March 5, 2021 They take pride in doing things differently at Lewes FC, the small football club with big ideas. From the beach huts that act as hospitality boxes at the Dripping Pan, their distinctive ground with the sunken pitch, to the prosecco served at matches and the pop-culture inspired posters that advertise fixtures, the East Sussex outfit [...]
Barcelona and Real Madrid handed multi-million tax bills as European Court of Justice issues ‘definitive’ verdict in state aid case March 4, 2021 Barcelona and Real Madrid must pay millions of Euros in extra tax after the European Court of Justice found they benefited from state aid. The verdict from the European Union’s top court settles a long-running legal battle involving four of Spain’s leading football clubs. Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna are the other teams facing bills for [...]
Cazoo, Dettol and Tik Tok: How the pandemic has changed the sport sponsorship landscape March 3, 2021 The pandemic may have halted the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, but in the world of sport sponsorship it has sparked some dramatic moves. New entrants are making major investments while more established sponsors have moved aside to make way. A combination of enforced changes of habit and the uneven nature of Covid-19’s [...]